Rockland ADs rethink 11 schools moving to Section 9

Friday

Feb 15, 2013 at 2:00 AM

After meeting on Thursday with Brian Conybeare, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's special adviser for the Tappan Zee Bridge project, athletic directors from 11 Rockland County schools are going back to the drawing board.

WILLIAM MONTGOMERY

After meeting on Thursday with Brian Conybeare, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's special adviser for the Tappan Zee Bridge project, athletic directors from 11 Rockland County schools are going back to the drawing board.

With new bridge construction a major issue for the Rockland County schools considering a switch from Section 1 to Section 9 in all sports beginning in the fall of 2014, the 11 athletic directors feel as if they now have a better understanding of how team travel between Rockland and Westchester counties for games will change in the coming years.

Conybeare "came and presented to us on the bridge and timetables and step-by-step stuff to give us a better idea of what to expect with that," said Liam Frawley, athletic director at Tappan Zee. "That cleared up some questions we had. We're going to go back to Section 1 and talk to them about what other options there may be with regard to conference alignment in the future. We'll also see how open they are to any other ideas and see where our options are after that."

The Rockland County schools have until Nov. 30 to apply for admission to Section 9. At that point, Section 9 officials would vote on the proposal.

"The bridge discussions we've had have been speculative amongst ourselves, so to get it really straight from the horse's mouth, from the governor's representative, it kind of gives us more clear answers," said Frawley, who also serves as the president of the Rockland County athletic directors. "We're not guessing anymore and that's a good thing. That helped clear up some potential concerns as regards the bridge.

"We'll go back to Section 1 with some proposals to see if they can do some things to help us. In the meantime, we'll see what the group's thoughts are on what the next step is for us."